Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mike Wallace tweets and real gay bashing

Social media has a strong presence among celebrities in 2013, and former Steelers receiver, Mike Wallace, is a celebrity (in a professional athlete sort of way), so it's only natural that he would share his views on a controversial subject via twitter, and it's only natural that people would strongly react.

The controversial subject in this case is journeyman NBA player, Jason Collins, coming out as the first openly gay active player in a major professional sports league.

It's a tremendous revelation by Collins, especially considering the dominant culture in most male sports locker rooms. How many players have made stupid homophobic remarks after being asked if an openly gay athlete would be accepted in their locker rooms?  I'm sure you can guess the kind of comments I'm referring to--no sense trying to go back and find them on the Internet.

With that in mind, Wallace is the latest athlete to come under fire for a homophobic remark when, following Collins' admission on Monday, he tweeted: "All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys. SMH."

Wallace later went on to tweet: "I'm not bashing anybody don't have anything against anyone I just don't understand it." And finally, he tweeted: "Never said anything was right or wrong I just said I don't understand!! Deeply sorry for anyone that I offended."

In terms of gay-bashing, I'd say Wallace's comments were pretty benign. But in terms of stupidity, Wallace's comments were pretty dumb, if only because he should have known people would react to them and call him homophobic.

I'll take the same stance I took with Ravens' quarterback, Joe Flacco, when he came under fire for saying "retarded" during a press-conference in the lead-up to the Super Bowl. People reacted negatively to Flacco, and rightfully so--when you're on that kind of stage, you really need to watch everything that comes out of your mouth--but my retort to that was, how many of us hear ordinary people use the word on a daily basis and never give them grief for it?

Same thing with gay-jokes or gay-bashing. How many ordinary people do that everyday? Tonight, I'll be going to play pick-up volleyball and basketball with a group of guys I know through my boss. And knowing those guys like I do, I almost guarantee there will be gay slurs and homophobic remarks flying around like sharp elbows from Robert Parrish or Bill Laimbeer.

I probably won't call any of them on it and tell them what they're saying is wrong. So for me to go on twitter and criticize Wallace for what he said would be a bit hypocritical.

And for any of you out there in Internet Land (especially those of you who like to engage in sports debates on blogs and message boards), how many of you use the word "homo" or "fa@@ot" when either talking about a professional athlete or when insulting a fellow sports fan you are having a disagreement with?

Mike Wallace should have known better (why any celebrity would tweet anything even remotely controversial is beyond me), but remember to also criticize your friend the next time he or she makes a homophobic remark.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

This is the time when a pitcher like Paul Maholm would really be valuable on the Pirates' staff

Prior to the start of the 2012 MLB season, I had many intense arguments with other Pirates fans about why the team would allow a solid pitcher like Paul Maholm, the eighth overall selection in the 2003 amateur draft, to leave and instead sign veteran starter A.J. Burnett to a two year deal. Many argued that Maholm wasn't a power arm--a true ace--and the team needed that kind of guy to anchor the staff.

As it turns out, Burnett was a key acquisition--maybe the best free agent pick-up the team has had in years--and has not only established himself as Pittsburgh's ace, he's become the true clubhouse leader a young team learning how to win sorely needs.

Having said all that, what's wrong with having BOTH Burnett and Maholm on the same staff? The thing is, Maholm should never be the ace of any staff. However, that doesn't mean he can't be a valuable member of one.

Maholm is now with the Braves and has started off the season 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. How good would Maholm look on a pitching staff with Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and a soon-to-be arriving Gerrit Cole?

This might seem like revisionist history, but as I said earlier, I've always been a Maholm fan. He may not be Stephen Strasburg (or Cole), throwing 99 mph, but not everyone can be that guy. What Maholm is, however, is an innings eater and a solid contributor.

Every staff needs a Paul Maholm. Unfortunately, for a team like the Pirates, it's usually an either/or scenario in cases like these.

That's too bad.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pirates sweep Dusty and the rest of the Reds right out of PNC Park

The final game of the three  game series between the Pirates and Reds Sunday afternoon at PNC Park started off like most recent "final" games of a series in-which Pittsburgh took the first two.

Starting pitcher Phil Irwin made his Major League debut for the Pirates thanks to Wandy Rodriguez's hamstring injury, and before you knew it, Cincinnati was up, 5-0. Pittsburgh's offense looked pretty lifeless (what else is new?), and as a fan, I prepared myself for the traditional postgame fodder from Clint Hurdle and his charges: "Hey, today didn't go so well for us, but we took two out of three from a very good Reds' team, and it's always the objective to win the series."

The Pirates trailed by that same 5-0 score heading into the seventh inning, before erupting for four runs in the bottom of the seventh--including a solo shot by back-up catcher Michael McKenry and a run scoring double  by Travis Snider that should have been a two-run jack, but was mistakenly ruled a ground-rule double due to fan interference that wasn't.

Cincinnati got a run back in the top of the eighth, but in the bottom of the inning, McKreny, who has shown a  flair for dramatic home runs during his short time with the Pirates, hit his second in as many innings-this time a two-run shot--to tie the game, 6-6.

Later in the inning, Starling Marte, who so far this season looks like the 2012 version of Andrew McCutchen  but with a translator, jacked his very own two-run homer to put Pittsbugh up for good.

The Pirates would add on two more in the inning and walk away with a very sweet--and against type--sweep of last year's NL Central Champions.

I know it's still early, and despite their current hot streak of five victories in six games, the Pirates are still only 6-6.

But it was a magical weekend at PNC Park, the kind of magic that hadn't been felt around here since early August of last season.

And maybe that sweep was a character builder--sometimes the objective heading into a series should be to take every game.

That's what champions do.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Steelers re-sign Stevenson Sylvester to one year deal

As reported by beat writer Ed Bouchette, the Steelers have re-signed inside linebacker Stevenson Sylvester to a one year deal. Sylvester was eligible to be a restricted free agent after the 2012 season but was non-tendered by Pittsburgh and became an unrestricted free agent.

It's probably no surprise that Sylvester didn't receive many offers in free agency. After missing significant time due to a knee injury suffered last August, Sylvester appeared in 10 games in 2012 and recorded one defensive tackle.

A fifth round choice out of Utah in the 2010 NFL Draft, Sylvester was a special teams standout in his first two seasons, and with the Steelers recently signing veteran Larry Foote to a three year deal, in addition to providing depth at inside linebacker, special teams is where Sylvester will be expected to contribute in 2013, provided he makes the team out of training camp.